Ethnography of Communication as Paradigm and Strategy in L2 Research

Abstract

Research paradigms have a strong impact on second language (L2) research. Since the decade of 1970s, the pendulum of research paradigm and strategy has been swinging from the slope of the quantity-driven research toward the slope of quality-driven one in balance. Within the field of sociolinguistics, the ethnography of communication known as a quality-driven research paradigm is, therefore, increasingly becoming a topic of considerable importance to linguists, anthropologist, language teachers, educationists, language planners, international business people, and anyone else involved in cross-cultural communication. My nine year old second son, Andrew‟s experiences in L2 acquisition and learning in a U.S. setting in 2001 were observed, recorded and analyzed as an ethnography for me to understand how a newcomer gained access to his second language and developed communicative competence in a foreign language setting.